


Let me hear you say 'I do'

by Jo106



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Josie hate Penelope at first, finding a title has been a pain the ass, lots of bickering, lots of fluff, quarantine is making me productive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jo106/pseuds/Jo106
Summary: Hope and Lizzie are about to get married. Josie is happy, really she is, but she’d be happier if she wasn’t on maid duty with the one person she despises the most: Penelope Park.orIt takes Josie a whole wedding to fall in love with Penelope.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 76
Kudos: 316





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What's up guys? 
> 
> I have a lot of time on my hands during quarantine so I thought why not write a little something for Posie? So here it is. 
> 
> English is not my first language, all mistakes are mine and blah, blah, blah 
> 
> Enjoy!

The party had already started when Josie got there. When she opened the door, she was welcomed by the sight of balloons and decorations – there was a giant one that read ‘getting married bitches’. Thankful that she knew her way into the house, she placed her gift on the table where all the others were piled up together and made her way into the garden. She spotted Mg and Kaleb talking, the latter was on barbecue’s duty. They were both holding a beer and looked like they were catching up so Josie didn’t feel like intruding, she would say hello later. She scanned the crowd hoping to find her sister. She recognized a few of Lizzie’s collogues and some of Hope’s relatives. Hope and Lizzie were nowhere in sight though.

Just as she was about to turn around and walk into the house a voice stopped her. “Looking for the engaged couple?”

Penelope was carrying her usual smirk along with a drink in her hand. Sunglasses perched atop her head, she gave Josie a knowing look. “I am actually, have you seen them?”

Penelope shook her head but she leaned closer and whispered in her ear “I think they’re having a quickie in the bathroom” she wiggled her eyebrows at Josie.

“Penelope, it’s their party don’t you think they’d be more… “

“Horny?” Penelope interrupted her.

Josie rolled her eyes “No, I was going to say composed”

Penelope just shrugged “I’d do the same if I was them”

Josie scoffed “of course you would and they’re not having a quickie”

“Sure” Penelope took a sip from her drink. “ I’ll be somewhere near the drinks table when you want to tell me I’m right about this”

Josie watched her leave. Penelope was one of the few people who could get on her nerves with just a few sentences. Josie could vaunt to be a patience person, someone that rarely hated someone else and that was easily loved. Oh, but all of those things disappeared at the mere sight of Penelope Park. That girl brought the worst out of her. But when she finally spotted her sister and her soon to be wife Josie realized that, indeed, Penelope was right.

Someone who didn’t know them may not notice the glint in their eyes, the slightly ruffed hair and the look of someone who had just got some but Josie did know them and she noticed all of these things.

“Josie!” Lizzie screamed reaching her and giving her a hug “when did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago”

“Good.” Lizzie clapped her hands, an excited smile on her face “Can you believe I’m getting married?”

“You’ve been asking me since you got engaged Lizzie, if I didn’t know you and Hope I’d think this was a call for help”

Josie had learned one thing from the newfound status of Lizzie and Hope as a couple: Lizzie was much happier. There were very few things that could put her in a bad mood now and Josie was only happy to take advantage of the situation.

“were you…?”

Lizzie looked at her an innocent look on her face “What?”

They totally were having a quickie. “Never mind. I talked with Penelope, I thought she was out of town?”

Lizzie scoffed “She’s Hope’s best friend, she wouldn’t have missed this party even if her child was about to enter this world”

Josie scrunched her nose “Dramatic”

“You get the point. Now go and have fun, I still haven’t had a drink yet”

Josie wanted to yell ‘I can believe that’ but refrained from doing so, instead she went looking for Hope. It was only courtesy to say hello to the other half of the couple after all.

“Still not going crazy from all of this?” she asked Hope who was contemplating what food to eat next. Josie saw her eyes going from a plate full of sandwiches and another of donuts. She picked a sandwich and turned to Josie. 

Hope smiled at her and Josie could see why her sister was so taken by the girl. “I’m confident it will end soon” Josie raised her eyebrow “but knowing your sister I know it won’t”

That was more like it, if Lizzie was famous for something back in high school it was for throwing endless parties.

Josie pointed a finger at her “Somehow I believe you like being celebrated”

“Correction. I like that my love for your sister is celebrated” Hope said lowering Josie’s finger with one of her own.

They heard gagging behind them and turned around to find Penelope making puking faces “I might vomit if you don’t stop immediately”

Hope just shook her head with a smile on her face, she didn’t seem to mind Penelope’s childish behavior. “As my maid of honor it is your duty to be the first, after me of course, to celebrate my love” Hope teased her.

Penelope rolled her eyes “Is it too late to retire from the position?”

“Yes, you’re stuck babe” Hope patted her shoulder and left, telling them she had soon-to-be-wife duty to attend.

Penelope looked at Josie, a smirk on her face “You can tell me now”

“In your dream” 

“oh believe me I dream of other things” Penelope wiggled her eyebrows but then her eyes focused on something behind Josie, or better, someone. When Josie turned, she saw a beautiful redhead walking through the crowd. She recognized her as one of Hope’s colleague.

Looking at Penelope, she saw a hint of panic and something that resembled nervousness.

“What?”

“See that redhead over her?”

Josie nodded “She’s kinda hard to miss Penelope”

Penelope huffed “Not the point Josette”

Josie made a face hearing her full name “what is the point here?”

“We slept together one night and then I left without a word. Hope didn’t tell me she’d be here” The last part was said more to herself than to Josie.

Josie, for her part, wasn’t at all surprised to hear such notion from Penelope. She had heard all of the stories from the girl herself and Hope when they liked to reminisce their life at college.

“Classy”

“You’re the one to talk. I know for a fact you did the same thing”

Josie was left speechless, her mouth forming an ‘O’. “Who told you?” Penelope stayed quiet and just raised her eyebrow. It was obvious. “I’m going to kill Hope.”

“Yeah, so no judging miss Josette”

“I’m just wondering how someone like her could be fooled into having sex with you” Josie knew actually but Penelope didn’t need to know. Despite their bickering and the constant banter Josie knew the raven haired girl was gorgeous, she had eyes after all, and she also knew that she was a constant flirt with the girls. She had game, as Mg once put it.

“Oh I bet you would like to know that” Penelope her hands and gave Josie a suggestive look.

“Gross”

* * *

A few days later Josie found herself in the same setting she was at the party, minus the people. Hope and Lizzie had asked her to come over to ‘talk’ as they put it. Josie didn’t know what to expect but she already knew it wasn’t something that wouldn’t make her jump out of joy.

The sight that welcomed her when she entered the house was a domestic one; the couple was cuddling on the couch enjoying a glass of wine, a documentary on the television. The stillness of the scene stirred something in Josie, something that contrasted completely with the calmness of the atmosphere.

She knew what it was and she didn’t want to dwell on it so she cleared her throat to catch the attention of the other people in the room. Two pairs of eyes instantly set on her.

“The door was open” she gestured somewhere behind her.

“Jo, come on in” Hope got up and pointed at the couch “Sit, I’m getting another glass” She disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few seconds later. She sat next to Lizzie, where she was before, and passed her the glass. The blonde filled it with a lot of wine and handed it to Josie who had made herself comfortable on the armchair.

They caught up on the latest news which weren’t a lot considering they saw each other almost everyday. Josie liked talking to them. Lizzie and Hope were an example of a couple that bloomed together, they lifted each other up in a way Josie had never seen other people do. They had they ups and downs, sure, but they always faced every problem, together. Josie aspired to have a love like that one day.

“So” Lizzie started “We have to tell you something that you won’t like”

“Is that why you filled the glass to the rim?”

“No?” Lizzie tried weakly. Hope hit her shoulder and then turned toward Josie.

“Lizzie is exaggerating.”

Lizzie sank into the couch. “Am not”

“We want to ask you to help us organize our wedding...”

Josie relaxed a bit “Oh, but we already discussed that”

“…with Penelope”

Hope and Lizzie looked at each other and then at Josie. “We know that you and Penelope hate each other but do it for me, please?” Lizzie showed her her best smile.

Hope cleared her throat “What Lizzie mean is that we know you and Penelope don’t have the best relationship and we know you are already helping us with the organization but we still have a lot of stuff to deal with so we won’t be around too much and Penelope is going to take care of the business part of everything”

“I can do that too” Josie tried to reason.

“You could” Hope nodded “but Penelope has legal competence to do so if something came up”

“You can see this as bossing her around while she does the boring stuff”

Josie reached for her wine and took a huge sip. “That’s not helping Lizzie”

“C’mon” Hope tried to defend her best friend “She’s not that bad”

“She’s my nemesis” Josie said with the most serious face the other two had ever seen.

“Okay, now who is the one exaggerating?” Lizzies asked Hope.

“You are sister after all” Hope murmured.

“Do I have another choice?”

“You can always leave the task to someone else” Hope said simply.

Lizzie and Josie widened their eyes. Lizzie placed her hands on the chest, at heart level. Hope rolled her eyes. The sure loved to act dramatic.

“No! I wouldn’t fulfill the role of the maid of honor in its entirety and complexity thus failing not only my sister’s dream of a perfect wedding but also myself”

Hope stopped Josie before she could go on with her rant “ That was intense”

Lizzie ignored what Hope said “So will you do it?” hands clasped together.

“Yes Lizzie” Josie let one final sigh “I’ll do it”

* * *

After the night at Hope and Lizzie’s, Josie organized every single section of the wedding in a binder. Her sister would be so proud once she showed it to her. There was a section for the venue, one for the flower, one for the cake and so on. All filtered by importance and colors. One element was missing, Penelope. But she was someone that could not be put in a box, let alone in a binder.

That’s why Josie decided that the best way to know the element was to meet it at a bar. Josie was ready. The binder was placed in front of her, her coffee was perfect and… and Penelope was late. As usual.

The nerve she had.

She already had in mind the scene of her scolding Penelope for making her wait, when someone pulled put the chair in front of me.

Penelope sat on the chair with a huff, she was wearing a white blouse under an elegant black blazer, sunglasses always on and the ever present leather jacket. For a second Josie thought of how good Penelope looked in her work clothes but she shook her head and focused on something else.

“You’re late”

“Sorry, I got caught up at work”

“Fine.” Josie moved on and pointed to the binder “Let’s get started, shall we?”

“Can’t a woman order something first?” She called over the waitress and ordered a cup of coffee “And what is that?” she added pointing at the binder.

“The binder for the wedding” Josie refrained from adding a ‘duh’.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, what did you think this meeting was for?”

Penelope leaned on the table “I thought you finally gave up your inhibitions and decide to sleep with me”

“What?” Josie blurted out, surprised. She could not believe her. She looked around to see if someone heard her. “I’m not going to sleep with you, Penelope!”

Penelope always had this twisted idea that someday, somehow, the two of them would sleep together. Josie thought she was crazy, they both hated each other, and Penelope was the last person she would sleep with. They were linked together only by a bunch of people and nothing more.

“Ugh, this just got fifty percent more boring then”

“We have to talk about the wedding!”

Josie knew that this wasn’t going to go anywhere so she tried a different approach. Sense of guilt.

“Listen, I know this is going to be hard for the both us, I don’t like you and you don’t like me” Penelope made a sound that Josie couldn’t quite classify so she let it slide “but I want Lizzie to have an amazing wedding and I hope, no, I know that you want the same for Hope so how about we put aside our differences for a while and work on this together?”

Penelope huffed, Josie recognized a victory when she saw one “okay” Josie smiled, victoriously. “but I need something other than coffee to deal with this then”

So they ordered a bottle of red wine, Penelope had insisted for Josie to drink too and Josie had relented easily, thinking it’d be easier for her too. Maybe if she was a little tipsy Penelope would be more…bearable.

They went through every section of the binder, from the first to the last. Penelope was shocked to see that Josie had put every little detail in it, going as far as to write the name of the ones attending the wedding and their allergies. Penelope was impressed, Josie had made a remarkable work, one that her professional side could definitely admire. By the time Josie finished explaining everything, the wine was long gone and the sun had set.

“…and that is all, I think” Josie ended with in one final breath. “What have you got?”

Penelope held up a finger, signaling to wait for a few second. Searched through her bag. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Josie. She opened it, there was only one sentence written on it, it said: ‘bachelor party’.

“Are you serious?” Josie looked at Penelope

“You didn’t cover that part in your little book” Penelope pointed at the book. “And Hope only told me yesterday”

If it was another time Josie would have made a comment about the superficiality of the subject but this time she let it slide. Maybe it was the wine.

“You’re right” Penelope looked surprised “you can take care of that” she dismissed easily.

Being in charge of organizing a party made of booze and sexy games wasn’t really Josie’s forte – a wedding she could deal with but not that - so she could let this one task to Penelope.

“oh my god, I can?” now she looked like a kid in candy store, her cheeks slightly pink from the alcohol in her and her eyes glowing “I can already picture it. The booze, the dancing show, the game” she listed the things on her finger “…the strippers”

Josie sobered up “No strippers!” she warned her.

“Wha- but that’s where all the fun is!”

“No. Strippers” she repeated, a fire in her eyes.

Penelope smirked, looking like her usual self “We’ll see”

Oh boy, that sounded a lot like trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

And so it started. Josie could handle this. The pressure of having to do something that had to be perfect all the while managing to keep Penelope on her toes. She could totally do this. First thing first: the venue. To say it was already stressful would be an understatement, but Josie stayed positive, today they were visiting an old villa on the countryside, a majestic twentieth-century palace and a terrace with a view on the sea. Josie was confident the last one was going to be a big hit.

They decided to meet directly at the venue, so as to optimize time. The villa was beautiful, there were no other words to describe it. It was located a few miles outside the city but the trip was totally worth it. The little cobblestone street lead directly to the entrance while giving a breathtaking view of the garden. The garden itself was something made out of a fairytale, the trees were so big they almost reached the roof and there were flowers of any colors blooming and adorning the garden with blazing colors. 

Josie’s eyes travelled from flower to flower and stopped on a particular one. The petals were lilac, and it looked like there were hiding another flower inside of them.

“They’re called aquilegias” Penelope’s voice interrupted her contemplation.

“What?”

“The flowers you’re looking at” Penelope repeated getting closer and pointing at the flowers “they’re called aquilegias, or columbine if you will”

Josie got up from where she was kneeling “They’re beautiful” she said, not taking her eyes off the flowers.

“They are” 

Josie saw a flash of something pass through Penelope’s eyes, the raven-haired girl was staring intensely at the flower, as if they held some kind of secret. “How did you know that?”

Penelope looked at Josie, her expression sobering up and covering whatever she was feeling. She shrugged. “My grandma loved gardening”

Josie only nodded. One of the few thing Josie knew of Penelope was that she was very close to her grandmother. Josie had heard a story or two about the woman, from Hope. The redhead always described grandma Park as someone affectionate and bright ‘an old soul for modern times’ she used to say. Josie knew that she meant a great deal to Penelope.

Josie cleared her throat and looked at her watch. “Shall we go while we wait for them?”

Penelope nodded. “Lead the way”

The entrance hall was made entirely of wood, it made the atmosphere warm and calm and it opened on the main room. The walls were adorned with painting so intricate Josie thought they belonged to a museum. There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling made entirely of diamonds, their lights reflected all over the room creating a beautiful game of lights and shadows.

The sounds of footsteps broke their contemplation, Josie saw a woman walking into the room. She was escorting a couple at the door and she gave Penelope and Josie a sideway glance. As soon as the couple was out of the door, she turned to them.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, actually. We have an appointment at 12 o’clock?” Josie told her.

The woman scrolled through her clipboard until she found what she was looking for. “Saltzman, right?” Josie confirmed by nodding.

“Is she the other bride?” she asked indicating Penelope. The girl in question chuckled and Josie blushed a deep shade of red.

“No, we’r-“

“Oh, you make such a lovely couple. And so young too!”

“ahem” Penelope took the matter in her hand before Josie’s head exploded from the embarrassment. “Sorry to interrupt…” Penelope looked at the tag name on the other woman’s shirt. “…. Marta but we’re not the brides”

Josie nodded “Yeah, we’re actually waiting for them”

Marta brought her clipboard near her chest as a sign of defense. “oh, I’m sorry dear”

“It’s okay”

“Would you like to have a tour or shall we wait for them?”

Penelope and Josie shared a look. Might as well.

Marta took them around the villa, explaining the story of the place and the meaning behind every piece of furniture inside of it. Josie found it a pleasant experience, too bad Lizzie would veto this place fast and hard.

By the time they finished the tour Lizzie and Hope were still m.i.a, Marta had left telling them to call her as soon as the couple would show up.

As soon as she was out of sight Penelope turned to Josie “So, what did you think?”

Josie pondered her words. The villa was very nice but it was not what Lizzie and Hope were looking for so she settled for “It’s…nice”

Penelope chuckled “You can say you don’t like it”

“I do” Josie tried to argue “It’s just…”

“It’s not the right place for Hope and Lizzie?” Penelope offered.

Josie nodded. Exactly what she was thinking. “yeah, the garden it’s beautiful but Lizzie’s gonna have a stroke when she sees she has to walk on the cobblestone and the garden’s beautiful but-“

“but Hope is going to have to swallow five pills of antihistamine just to look at it”

There were other things to list – a lot of them - but they both stopped there, Josie realizing that she failed once again.

Josie closed her eyes and took a breath to focus “hey” Penelope’s voice reached her ears. Her tone was unusually tender, and Josie was surprised it was meant for her. She opened her eyes and found herself lost into green. “We’ll find it. Don’t worry too much or else you’re going to get all grey hair for _your_ wedding”

Josie chuckled, actually chuckled. She felt slightly better. “Thanks”

“Don’t mention it”

* * *

As predicted by both Penelope and Josie, Hope and Lizzie vetoed the villa. Their reasonings were similar to the one they had discussed, ‘it’s impractical’, Lizzie had said and so they had moved on.

The third venue of the day though, made its way through their hearts. It wasn’t fair to call it ‘just’ a terrace because all mix of elements made it something out of the ordinary. The sea view was hidden by a staircase that lead to the terrace and the terrace…wow. Josie could only image what kind of color could burst out of that place at sunset. The sea breeze lulled the atmosphere turning it into something that made Josie think of summer and the sand between her feet. It was amazing.

Turning to look at Hope and Lizzie, she found the same expression on both their faces. They loved it. Bingo. Josie would have high fived herself right there if it wasn’t so lame.

She tried to act subtle and walked to where Lizzie and Hope were talking. “So?” she opened her arms to gesture their surrounding “What do you think?”

Lizzie and Hope shared a look “We love it” 

* * *

“…these breadsticks are _so_ good” Penelope said while reaching for another one of the appetizers.

“Right? Thank you” Hope made a smug face “Lizzie hates them”

“Lizzie has no taste so it doesn’t count” Penelope responded easily.

“Hey, I’m marrying your best friend”

Penelope and Hope paused. “Fair enough”

After leaving the venue – and closing the first section of the binder – they had decided to stop to eat something and, upon Hope’s request, they stopped at an Italian restaurant.

“Have you decided which date to choose?” Josie asked them after they finished eating. They were starving so much they hadn’t said a word to each other during the first course. Who would have thought that making a wedding would be so tiring?

“I think we’re going with a spring wedding. We have more time to figure out how to bring all of our relatives here”

“ _Your_ relatives you mean, me and Josie have like…three of those”

Josie nodded but Hope rolled her eyes. “Fine, my relatives who, by the way, are soon going to be yours too”

The comment was meant to be funny but Lizzie’s reaction was a love-struck smile. “I know” she said reaching for her fiancée’s hand.

“Ugh, not in front of my salad” Penelope commented, and Lizzie flicked her off. It was the routine at that point.

When they left the restaurant, the day had morphed into evening so they decided call it a day and head home. Penelope and Hope were talking and laughing while Josie and Lizzie were walking behind them. It was easy to imagine a younger version of them, together, and causing trouble. Josie had always been fascinated by their relationship. Her first impression of Hope was of a girl that seemed to be wary of people and Penelope, well, she seemed to be the opposite, so careless and incautious. That’s why Josie always wondered how two people like them could be friends.

“Earth to Josie” Lizzie snapped her fingers in front of her face. “are you listening to me?”

“Sorry, I was distracted. You were saying?”

“ugh, before you got into josie’s land up there” Lizzie pointed at her head “I was asking if you are bringing someone to the wedding”

“As a date?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes “No, as a waiter. Of course as a date!”

“Oh, then no.” Josie answered and then she couldn’t help but add “Not yet I mean”

Lizzie stopped walking “What do you mean ‘not yet’?” she opened her mouth in surprise, suddenly realizing something. “Are you seeing someone?”

Josie put her hands up in defense “Calm down there tiger. I’m not seeing anyone but” she held up a finger “I’ve got a date”

“oh, Josie. I’m really happy. What’s her name? Or his name?” she added after a beat.

“Fred”

Lizzie nodded and waited for Josie to say something else “And? You can’t leave me like this, it’s been ages since you dated somebody. What does he do? How old is he? How-“

“Lizzie” Josie stopped her before she could start to ramble “He’s twenty-seven and he’s a chief but that’s all I’m going to say”

“Ugh, fine”

Luckily for her, they had reached the car before Lizzie could continue with her interrogation so she was safe, for now.

* * *

Half an hour into the date and Josie wished Lizzie would have talked her out of it. She was living the longest thirty minutes of her life, ten of which Fred had spent talking about conspiracy theories and math. Never mind the fact that he had brought her to a bar, of all places, as a first dates. Josie was pretty sure a second one wouldn’t follow.

Right now her main concern was how to get out of this disaster of a date and Josie, being the resourceful woman she was, came up with only one thing: the bathroom.

She interrupted the man in the middle of his monolog, ‘lady problems’, she told him waving her hands in the air. She didn’t wait to see if he had understood and she bolted out of the chair. She was in a ‘cul de sac’ and she didn’t know how to get out. She tried to move through the crowd without bothering to apologize until she felt someone touch her arm.

“Josie?”

Penelope was looking at her as if she wasn’t sure she was seeing the right person. “Penelope, what are you doing here?”

Penelope raised her glass “ Drinking with some colleagues, what about you?”

Josie hesitated for a moment. She was torn, tell the truth and most likely be made fun of or tell a lie and live with it until the rest of the night? The second option looked more appealing, so she didn’t know why her mouth choose the first one.

“I’m on a date”

Penelope raised her eyebrow a teasing smirk on her face “A date uh. Good for you”

Josie shook her head “Not good, not good for me at all”

Penelope frowned “why not?”

Josie fought the urge to grab the other girl by the collar and scream so she just settled for “He’s been talking about how aliens invaded our world and are now leading this country”

Josie huffed, the other girl must’ve taken pity of her state because next thing she knew Penelope cleared her throat and said “Do you want to go upstairs? I know the owner and there’s a private room where only a few selected people can go in”

It only took about two seconds for Josie to nod and follow Penelope on the stairs that lead to the second floor. There weren’t many options left that could save her from dying of boredom so.

The entrance was guarded by a bouncer who only nodded at Penelope when she saw her and let them in. Penelope wasn’t lying after all.

The second floor looked cozier, the chairs and tables were the same as the ones from the floor beneath them but there were also soft couches and the room was illuminated by light bulbs hanging by wires.

The atmosphere looked entirely too intimate to be shared with Penelope and Josie bit her lip. Penelope didn’t seem to notice her distress this time, or maybe she didn’t want to, and just took a seat on a couch. She looked up at Josie, expectantly “Well? Aren’t you gonna sit? I promise I won’t bite…unless you want me to” she ended with a wink.

Now Josie recognized her, it somehow made her more at ease, seeing Penelope like her usual self. She took a seat, trying not to think how awkward the situation was. She and Penelope -except for more recent event - never hung out outside of Hope or Lizzie, there had been a few rare times where the two of them had found themselves alone but they always ended up bickering and teasing each other. It was weird seeing her like this, outside of her familiar setting.

“Is white wine okay?” Penelope asked, diverting Josie from her thought. A bottle of Pinot was now on the table along with two glasses. Penelope hesitated, waiting for Josie and then proceeded to pour the girl some wine when she received a small nod.

“So, what’s mister bore-me-to-death name?” she asked filling her own glass.

“Fred” Josie forced out of her mouth.

Penelope scoffed “That’s not a real name” 

“Apparently it is”

“How did you meet him?” Penelope sounded sincerely interested so Josie just shrugged and answered.

“Through friends”

Penelope took a sip from her glass “God, you really need to make some new ones then”

Josie raised her glass towards her in a ‘toast’ gesture “Can’t disagree with that”

“What are you doing here anyway? I didn’t think this was your…mh” Josie tried to find the right word but Penelope filled the gap for her.

“Scene?” Josie nodded “This is actually one of my favorite place in the city. Kat, the owner, is a friend of mine, we met in college” Penelope explained easily.

“It’s lovely” Josie admitted watching her surroundings.

“Not for a first date thou” Penelope commented.

“Definitely not for a first date” Josie laughed.

They talked and talked and the bottle of wine turned into two and then into a few shots. Josie had to admit, it was weird at first, knowing someone for so long but not actually knowing them. She wondered if there were other things she had been wrong about Penelope. Penelope’s company was refreshing, in a way, the raven-haired girl had never been someone to hold back her thoughts or opinions. It was something that Josie had found unnerving in the past but now it was actually…good. It meant she could do the same.

“Okay, let’s play truth or drink”

Penelope suggested but she was already lining up the shots filled with tequila, leaving Josie no choice but to play.

“What are we, fifteen?” Josie complained.

“I recall you calling me a sixteen years old boy with her head in her pants just last week”

“oh yeah” Josie chuckled, proud of herself for that line “That was a great comeback”

“Weak” Penelope gave Josie five shots and took just as much for herself “Want to go first?”

Josie made a gesture with her hand “mmmhh….okay, I got it. What was the last thing you searched on your phone?”

Penelope looked unimpressed “Seriously?” Josie only nodded. Penelope shook her head and retrieved her phone from the pocket of her jeans. She typed in the code and clicked on the little browser icon. “Here” she passed the phone to Josie and watched as the other girl scrolled through her browser until she found the chronology.

Josie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand “fluffy slippers Penelope?”

“Hey, don’t judge! Those things are amazing!” she snitched her phone back from Josie and locked it, leaving it on the table “My turn” Penelope put her hands under chin, contemplating her next move “What’s the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done?”

Josie mouth fell open in a silent ‘o’. “Penelope!” she screeched. “I’m not gonna answer that!”

Penelope nodded toward the glasses on the table “Drink up then” said daring her.

Josie scoffed but did as she was told. She threw her head back and drowned the shot, the tequila burning in her throat. “That’s how you want to play then, mh?” Josie raised her eyebrow in a challenge. Penelope only smirked in response, waiting for the next question “What’s the most scandalous place you’ve had sex in?”

“uuh” Penelope wiggled her eyebrows “Spicy. I like it” she then paused, staring at the ceiling, contemplating “A classroom, during school time.” She added after a pause.

“With a student?” Josie couldn’t help but ask.

“What? No! Who do you think I am? It was a teacher”

“When you were a _student?”_

“No” Penelope wiggled her eyebrows.

“I honestly thought worse” Josie admitted, toying with a glass on the table.

Penelope shrugged her shoulder. “Can’t blame you”

Josie didn’t realize how much time had passed and for the first time in a long time she was having fun without holding back any part of herself. They’d been asking each other some lighthearted question – like they’re favorite songs to sing in the shower or their favorite Disney movie - and some dirty question – like biggest turn on and worst sex they ever had. To be honest, these were Penelope’s fault and Josie could only fight back with the same force. It’s not like she was purposely going out of her way to make Penelope laugh, no. She was just trying to forget one of the worst date she had ever been on by drinking with a friend… sort of.

“Okay, okay. I got another one” Josie hold up a finger and chuckled. Her head felt light and the room was spinning a little. “If you had to sleep with one person in this room” she gestured around, Penelope scanned the occupants in the room with her eyes before focusing back on hers “who would it be?”

Josie watched as Penelope’s eyes flicked from one person to another before settling on her. Josie swore she saw Penelope’s eyes go a shade darker. She watched as Penelope shook her head and chuckled, watched as she took the last glass and emptied its content while keeping eye contact with Josie.

It was _hot_.

There were no other words for it and Josie would only admit it to herself.

She cleared her throat and looked away. Her cheeks felt ten times hotter. She checked her watch “It’s late, I better call an uber”

Penelope didn’t seem concerned with her change of behavior “Sure”

Josie gathered her thing and got up. She gave Penelope a quick ‘goodbye’ and bolted out of the door, as much as her drunk and wobbly legs could handle anyway.

She needed sleep.

* * *

The morning after she woke up with a killer headache as expected. She was grateful it was a Sunday morning and there weren’t any major chores she needed to do. She worked on making coffee right away and took some aspirins, hoping her headache would pass by lunch.

She took her phone and checked for messages, there was one from Lizzie – asking her how the date had went – and another from Penelope?

She opened the one from the raven-haired girl, feeling curios.

 _I’m never drinking with you again._ There was a smiley face next to it letting Josie knew Penelope wasn’t serious.

She texted back, _It was all your doing Park._

She watched as ‘Penelope is typing’ appeared on her phone and waited for an answer. _You had fun, Saltzman, just admit it._

Josie shook her head. _Never._ She typed back.

 _We’ll see about that._ Was that flirting?

_We’ll see…_

Oh fuck, was she flirting back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you liked this chapter, come and let me know what you think at @posiesarmy
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay. Uni has been kicking my ass and I didn't have much time to write and organize the work.  
> I think this is going to have two or three chapter more so we are halfway through the story! 
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, all mistakes are mine and as I said before, english is not my first language. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Part of the reason Josie was so excited to organize the wedding, beside bringing happiness and joy for her sister and Hope, was getting to see her mom again. Josie loved spending time with Caroline but life and works had gotten in the way and they didn’t see each other as much as they’d like. Living in two different cities had been difficult at first but Josie got used to it, cherishing the moment she got to spend with her mom when she visited.

Of course just when Josie was about to get out, fully expecting to see Lizzie waiting for her in her car, she got a text from the aforementioned blonde, telling her that she wouldn’t be able to go with her but that a replacement was coming.

A black Volkswagen stopped in front of her, the window from the passenger side lowered and Penelope’s face popped out.

“Looking for a ride?”

Josie leaned on the window but didn’t get in. “Care to explain?”

“Your sister got called in to work and Hope’s hands are full of Mikaelson right now, you’re stuck with me”

Josie huffed but opened the door of the car and got in. “Great”

That wasn’t time to complain about her sister and her lack of manner, so she didn’t, but she made a mental note in her head to remind to scream at Lizzie later.

“Where to, miss?” Penelope asked doing a fake male voice.

Josie looked weirdly at her, not understanding the reference “Mh, the airport?”

“Should’ve said ‘the star’” Penelope mumbled as she turned on the car.

“Just drive”

The spent the first fifteen minutes in silence, neither of them speaking a word about the night at the bar as Josie.

After that night, she and Penelope had exchanged a few texts, a few _flirty_ texts but nothing else. Josie didn’t bother to dwell much on it considering Penelope was that way with everyone she considered attractive – and she had never hidden the fact that she found Josie so – but what was alarming was that she had flirted back.

That part, she decided, had to be kept hidden and away from her mind. Locked in a drawer.

Not wanting to think about it while the cause of her distress was sitting right next to her she avoided the subject all together and tried to start a conversation.

“What did Lizzie do to make you take her place?” Josie asked.

Penelope didn’t pick up on the teasing retort and simply shrugged “I just happened to be there when she got called in”

“Right” Josie said, not believing a word “And you willingly decided to come all the way to the airport”

Penelope tilted her head “Well, that and there’s the obvious part” she didn’t finish the sentence, leaving Josie hanging.

“What?”

“I have a huge crush on your mom” Penelope answered wiggling her brows.

Josie scoffed, more at herself this time, for thinking Penelope was going to give her a serious answer.

“You’re insufferable”

“And you’re _so_ easy to tease”

Penelope only smirked and Josie didn’t bother giving her an answer.

The raven-haired girl then cleared her throat, she threw a sideway glance at Josie and tapped her thumbs on the wheel.

“You know, with all these wedding planning going you should take a break”

Josie scoffed, not really picking Penelope’s sudden change of mood. “got any suggestion?”

Penelope opened her mouth but Josie stopped her before she could utter a word “Do _not_ suggest anything sex related, please”

Penelope looked amused “I was inviting you my party this weekend, but the way your mind work seems more…exciting”

“A party? What for?”

Penelope faked a hurt expression “I’m _shocked_ that you forgot about my birthday Josette, way to make a girl feel miserable”

Josie rolled her eyes “Are all your conquest going to be there?” she asked.

“Why? Jealous?”

“You wish”

The matter dropped after that and they spent the drive in relative silence only broken by Josie changing the radio station.

By the time they arrived they found Caroline already waiting for them, tapping on her phone, a hand on her suitcase. She frowned when she saw the unfamiliar car approaching but her frown morphed into a huge smile when she saw Josie getting out of it.

“Josie!” the brunette found herself trapped into a tight hug before she could say anything. She let herself be lulled by her mother’s embrace for a few moments. She closed her eyes and breathed into her mother’s hair, cherishing the way her mother’s perfume brought back so many good memories.

“Hi mom” she said when the two separated.

Caroline took a moment to take Josie in, she put a hand on her cheek. “You look well, darling”

“Thanks, so do you” Josie always had always thought her mom was one of the most beautiful women she had ever met. And not just because she was her mom.

Caroline laughed. “After a three hours flight no one looks good honey but thank you”

“Are you tired? Penelope can drop us off at Lizzie’s if you want”

Caroline’s eyes moved from Josie to Penelope, now noticing her. Penelope was leaning on her car, far enough so that mother and daughter could have their moment of privacy. Penelope waved at them, Caroline gave Josie a questioning look that Josie ignored and greeted the other girl.

“Hello Penelope”

“Mama Forbes, shall we go? I bet you’re tired from the flight”

Caroline nodded and before she could move Penelope took her suitcase and put it in her car. Caroline looked impressed by the gesture and Josie resisted from scoffing.

The drive back home went by faster than the first one, Josie guessed it had to do with the fact that she was too excited to have her mother back and that the presence of the blonde kept Penelope from making any teasing comment at Josie’s expenses. Josie and Caroline did most of the talking, catching up on the months they were apart, and Penelope seemed happy to just listen and speaking only when Caroline asked her a question.

Soon they reached the Saltzman-Mikaelson’s household and got out of the car, Penelope stepping out to help Caroline once again. Josie thanked her and gave her a simple wave, telling her she would text her the updates.

When she turned to Caroline she found the blonde already looking at her with a weird look in her eyes and a little smile on her face “What?”

“Nothing” Caroline said too quickly, Josie narrowed her eyes at her, suspicious. Caroline ignored her and started walking towards the house “C’mon, has your sister finally learned to cook?” she threw over her shoulder.

Josie didn’t answer, she shook her head and chuckled, glad to know some thing never changed.

* * *

A warm feeling settled in Josie’s stomach watching her mom and her sister talking and laughing. it wrapped Josie like a soft blanket made with childhood memories and warm hugs.

Hope had excluded herself from the situation, to give them some space, leaving not before giving Lizzie a goodbye kiss to which the blonde fall easily in.

Her mother didn’t waste any time with small talk, ‘let’s keep them for later’ she had said to them and started bugging Lizzie with wedding related question which Lizzie was only happy to answer.

“…and Josie found the _best_ venue mom! Me and Hope are gonna take you there this week, you’ll love it” Lizzie said excitedly.

Josie smiled, both for Lizzie’s enthusiasm and for helping her get a little piece of the puzzle into the whole picture. 

“…and I can’t wait do twirl around with Hope for her family dance, that’s the part I’ll turn into a real Mikaelson” she wiggled her brows at Caroline.

Josie frowned, mentally going through the sections of the binder but coming up empty. “Family dance?”

Lizzie nodded “It’s a tradition”

Josie turned to Caroline, silently asking her if Lizzie was making kidding but her mom looked unimpressed as she continued to sip her drink. “You haven’t even heard the best part” Caroline said.

“Oh yeah, all the closest people to the brides eventually join in the dance” Lizzie said as if it was already granted “to symbolize the closeness and the bond to the family”

Caroline watched as Josie put two and two together, she forgot how fun it was to watch the twin interact “Wait, does that mean that _I_ have to learn the dance too?”

Lizzie looked ready to throw a pillow at her head, unnecessary talk was one of her pet peeve. “Of course, we already talked about this”

“We did?” Josie couldn’t help but ask. Cold sweat starting to drip on her face.

“Josie! Everyone has to know that dance! The Mikaelson have been doing it for centuries!”

Lizzie looked distraught so Caroline intervened “Liz, why don’t you show me the dress you’ve been eyeing? The one with lace sleeves?”

Lizzie’s expression turned into a dreamy one “Oh yeah, I’ll get magazine”

As soon as Lizzie disappeared from the room Caroline looked at Josie with a little smile on her face “You forgot about the dance didn’t you?”

Josie only raised a finger “I did not forget…I might have stored the information in a little box on the back of my brain”

“mmh uh” Caroline took a sip of her wine “She’s going to be mad”

Josie bit her lips, suddenly nervous. She glanced at the door, afraid that Lizzie might show up at any moment “Can you teach me?” she implored Caroline.

The blonde chuckled “I’m afraid I don’t know all the steps, sweetheart.”

Josie straightened on the armchair “But you have to dance too!” she whined.

“Correction, it is optional for some people to join in the dance but it is _mandatory_ for the bridesmaids to do so, so no, I don’t have to dance”

Lizzie’s footsteps alerted them that she was coming back. Caroline gave Josie one last apologetic look and, sitting on the arm rest, she gave her a kiss on the head.

“Sorry, love. I can’t help but I know someone who might”

Josie gave her mom a questioning look and her mother only raised her eyebrow as an answer.

 _Oh,_ fuck.

* * *

“You know…” Penelope started, mouth full “if you told me I’d get to have free cakes for organizing the wedding I wouldn’t have made such a fuss”

Penelope looked like a kid in a candy store. To be fair to her they _were_ in a candy store, sort of, but Penelope was no kid. Josie had been really looking forward for this part, she loved cakes and she got to taste them for free without the binding obligation to buy one. It was paradise. Apparently though, Penelope was more enthusiast than her, seen as her mouth hadn’t stopped chewing since they got inside.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone with a sweet tooth” Josie commented.

Penelope took another bite of the dark cake in front of them, sucking the spoon in a way too inappropriate to be seen in a shop. “Are you kidding? Sweets are like, my life. Cake, pastries…they are heaven’s food”

“Sure” Josie chuckled.

It was not as easy to push away the feeling that was forming in a part of her body that was _lower_ than her stomach while watching Penelope and her damn spoon.

She cleared her throat to bring Penelope’s attention from the cake to her “What do you think about it?”

Penelope composed herself and _finally_ put the spoon down. “It’s good” she paused. “Hope is gonna hate it.” She then affirmed easily.

Josie scrunched her nose. “Too sweet?”

“Yup”

“We’re never going to find the right one” Josie complained.

Penelope patted her on the head “Look at the bright side, we can taste so many other cakes!”

“We’re gonna get fat then”

Penelope lifter her shirt a little bit and poked herself on the stomach, where her abs were, now full on display. “Naah, I think I’m good”

Josie gulped. Indeed.

She tried to change the subject so that her mind wouldn’t get lost thinking about Penelope’s abs, or body. “Hey, mh, has Hope ever told you about the dance?”

“The Mikaelson dance?” Josie nodded and so did Penelope, answering the question “What about it?”

“You know the steps?”

Penelope narrowed her eyes “Duh, Hope taught me when she drunkenly admitted she wanted to marry Lizzie like a year after they started dating” she took a sip from the tea that came with the cakes “Why?”

Josie didn’t utter a word, hoping Penelope would catch the meaning of her silence and eventually she did. Penelope opened her yes, now sparkling with joy, once she fully grasped the implication of Josie’s quietness. “uuh, does someone need my help now?”

“Please don’t make me say it” she implored Penelope.

“But it would be _such_ a pleasure to hear you beg” she winked her brows, resting her head on her elbow.

Josie sighed, she couldn’t say she didn’t see that coming. “Could you teach me? Please?” she added after a beat.

Penelope smirked.

“Well, if you ask so kindly, how can I say no?”

* * *

Josie could count on one hand the times she had been at Penelope’s. The rare occasions were usually the dinners Lizzie would drag her into, so she wasn’t left alone with Hope and Penelope ‘being weirdos’ as she put it or again the times Hope would drag her into the apartment because she had to fetch something from Penelope. Safe to say she wasn’t familiar with the setting.

Penelope’s apartment was…not like she had imagined it. She had expected something dark, chaotic even but the dark walls she had in minds were replaced by minimal furniture and a light grey couch. The place looked like it belonged in a magazine for interior design, but Josie could see Penelope’s mark; a jacket thrown over the arm of the couch, some ornamental plants on the corner of the room and a stuffed bookcase. It was all lovely and Josie could imagine Penelope moving through her apartment, waking up late and making her way to the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

The fictitious image stirred something in her stomach, something she’d rather not think about and seeing Penelope move around the apartment didn’t help either. She was moving the furniture to make enough space for them to twirl around.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

Penelope took her time answering her, after moving a cabinet near the couch and taking a breath. “Nope. I think this will do anyway”

There was a big enough space for them to dance: the couch had been moved near the wall along the cabinet Penelope had just finished moving.

“Shall we?”

Josie could only nod and Penelope started explaining the dance and its steps. She took a few steps back and ended up near the wall. Josie hadn’t even noticed but the room was now filled with music.

“It starts like this. We each take three steps forward” Penelope started moving and Josie mimicked her. One step. “It symbolize that it takes two people moving” Another step. “towards each other” Final Step. “to fall in love”.

They were face to face now. Josie could see flickers of gold in Penelope’s green eyes. The hold each other stare and only after Josie cleared her throat Penelope moved.

She held her hand out to Josie. “May I?”

Josie could only nod. Penelope took Josie’s left hand into her and put the other one on her waist. Josie put her hand on Penelope’s shoulder and naturally moved closer. She could smell Penelope’s perfume, vanilla and something more piercing, that Josie couldn’t quite identify.

She could feel Penelope’s breath on her neck. It was all too much. She was ready to bail out of the room when Penelope’s voice interrupted her. “Now we waltz”

They moved together, in tune with each other. Josie did step on Penelope’s feet a couple of times, but the raven-haired girl only chuckled and told her she was fine, telling her Hope had to bear much more than trampled feet.

After a few minutes and after Josie got the rhythm and the steps right, Penelope proceed with the dance.

“Now, everyone except for the brides exchange partners, so I’ll move to the left and you to the right.” Penelope broke their contact. Josie immediately missed the warmth of the embrace, the way Penelope’s hand was firm on her waist. She almost whined. “There’s no need to explain that part I guess”

They kept moving, now separately to carry on with the dance. Josie nodded but she wanted Penelope to tell her. “Tell me anyway, please”

Penelope smiled and nodded. “Separating from the partner during the dance means that you may lose one another trough time but eventually, if love and fate align, you may find your way back to each other”

Josie hang from her lips. They made their way back to each other, back into the original position and they started moving together again.

Josie tried to focus on anything, on the lyric of the song, on the way the books were organized but the only thing she could feel was Penelope’s hand in hers, they way Penelope’s green eyes gleamed under the light, how her lips were turned into a smirk because of a joke she had made about how she couldn’t wait to see Lizzie dancing.

God. She wanted to kiss her.

_She wanted to kiss that smirk away._

And that’s what she did.

Josie didn’t know what force had possessed her but she didn’t care. She put a hand behind Penelope’s neck and kissed her. The other hand found her way to Penelope’s waist, pulling her closer. She felt Penelope relaxing into her hold, putting her hand on her cheeks and exploring her mouth with her tongue. Penelope’s taste was intoxicating, she wanted more and more. She tilted her head to the side and deepened the kiss.

She felt Penelope hands slip behind her neck and pull her closer. They started moving and soon found themselves walking towards Penelope’s bedroom. Penelope expertly guided her to the bed while kissing her, never breaking the physical contact between them.

They fell on the bed, Josie on top. For a second she thought if what she was doing was right but Penelope was looking at her with so much lust and desire in her eyes that Josie forgot how to breath for a moment. Let alone think.

No, tonight was not for thinking. Tonight was for kissing, and moaning and feeling good.

* * *

The morning after, Josie woke to the sound of an alarm she did not know, in a room she did not know, sharing a bed with someone she very well knew. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light coming from the window. She rolled over, laying on her back. She stared at the ceiling, too petrified to verify with her eyes the reality of the situation by looking at the person lying next to her. When she finally turned around all she saw was a smooth back. Her first instinct was to reach out and touch Penelope’s back, letting her hand travel from her neck and further down but she stopped. Penelope was facing the opposite way which was a blessing, Josie didn’t think she could handle watching Penelope in the eyes and then doing what she was about to do.

She inhaled deeply and turned off the blaring alarm, impressed that Penelope didn’t seem to be bothered by the sound.

She got dressed, careful not to make noise. She put on her shoes and stopped at the door, stealing one last glance at Penelope.

Josie didn’t want to admit it but the night had been good. Penelope was a selfless lover, she had touched her in all the right places, given her multiple orgasms and, honestly, Josie couldn’t remember a time she had felt more relaxed. But she didn’t want to give in. Penelope was just someone she bantered with, someone to tease and blurring the line would be too much for Josie. It would mean that they could be become anything, _something_ and Josie was scared of that.

So she closed the door behind her and she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there's that!
> 
> Let me know what you guys think, leave a comment here or on twitter @posiesarmy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am again. I'm so sorry it took this long but as usual uni si kicking my ass right now. 
> 
> I finished writing this chapter at one in the morning so, sorry for eventual mistakes or abomination on this page. 
> 
> English is not my first language, all mistake are mine. 
> 
> I hope you like this chapter!! XD

Josie had a lot of flaws, she knew that, but running away from a problem wasn’t one of them. Her parents taught her that facing a problem straight away, armed with courage and determination was the only way to pull through.

But this, oh she screwed up big time.

She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to live one day without Penelope mentioning their one-night stand to her and worst of all, to her friends. So, the only logical solution was to avoid her, and any kind of situation that would lead to her and Penelope in the same room as her friends and family.

At first Penelope had tried to reach out for her, to no avail, she ignored the text and the call and voicemail. She ghosted her, just like one would after a one-night stand.

She had to avoid the birthday party too.

She gave Lizzie some sort of excuse to give to Hope who then would give to Penelope.

She felt bad, really. But she was also confused. Was Penelope her friend or was she more? Did she have feelings for her or was that just a mistake of the moment? She didn’t know. All she knew was that in such little time Penelope went from the girl who pulled her hair to the girl she kissed behind the bleachers. The thing was, Josie thought, that she didn’t know which Penelope she liked more and – more importantly – which version of Josie she liked more when she was with Penelope, the one that let out her snarky side or the one that let out her romantic side.

Guess she didn’t know this one thing either.

She spent the night of Penelope’s birthday at home, in her pj, drinking cheap wine and pretending the whole situation didn’t bother her one bit.

She settled for watching a documentary about Atlantis that she would have found fascinating in any other occasion but not this one. It didn’t help at all that Lizzie had texter her to tell how great the party was. Guess even she was able to put her difference aside between her and Penelope when free food and drink was involved.

She sighed, took another sip of her wine and turned up the volume.

* * *

Days had passed and the situation hadn’t changed much. Josie found herself completely covered with work and her duty as maid of honor. It was a good thing, she guessed the more busy she got the less were the chance of her mind wandering back to Penelope. Anything was good if it took her minds off of thing.

The wedding was coming up nice, beautiful, elegant just like Lizzie wanted and Josie was glad her sister could have a wedding day that would be perfect.

Between all the chaos Josie had to tried to keep in mind that she was doing all of this for Lizzie and Lizzie only, and it had worked until…the misstep. Let’s call it that.

After everything that happened she had bailed out of every occasion that brought Lizzie and Hope and of course Penelope, together.

She didn’t want to think. That was the first reason she fell into bed with Penelope and now all she could do was overthink. Oh, the irony.

She just didn’t want to face Penelope because it would make things real. As long as she ignored and avoided Penelope she could pretend that what had happened was all in her head and it didn’t actually happened. Sure, the situation sucked balls and Josie knew Hope was getting more suspicions as time passed but she needed a few more days, to get things straight in her head.

More or less.

* * *

After some serious consideration, Josie decided to go to Penelope’s. To apologize. Because that’s what adults do and also, because she was running out of lies to tell Lizzie and Hope to avoid her. She had caught Hope giving her ambiguous looks more than once and she started to wonder if Penelope had told her something.

So, to repair the situation she created, she decided to be the kind of women her parents raised her to be and face the situation.

Standing in front of Penelope’s door, gift in her hand – the perfect excuse to see Penelope – she felt nervous. She took a deep breath and ringed the doorbell.

Penelope opened the door, dressed in sweatpants and a sweater. It reminded her of the night they tried the dance and Josie was pulled out of her thought only when Penelope called her name.

“Josie!” she sounded surprised. Josie couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know what Penelope thought of her now. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to give you this” Josie said, nodding towards the gift.

Penelope’s eyes fell on it. “What is it?”

“It’s a ‘I’m sorry I missed your birthday party gift’” she extended her arms and gave Penelope her gift. God, she felt awkward.

Penelope took it, a new spark of interest and amusement on her face “You didn’t have to”

“I really did” Josie said “and I just had to buy them for you when I saw them” Josie bit her tongue. That looked like she thought about Penelope during the day which she did…but the other girl didn’t need to know that.

Penelope opened the present, careful with the paper and chuckled when she saw what was inside the box. “They sure are the right gift for me”

She settled the box down and held up the fluffy bright pink slippers. “You can change them if you want to. They even have a pair with eyes on it”

Penelope smiled. “These are perfect. Thank you”

“I also wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about ignoring you and ghosting you, but I needed some time to think about what happened.” Josie said slowly, as if she was trying to convince herself of the same words she had just said.

Penelope didn’t answer. She stepped aside and mentioned for Josie to go inside the apartment.

Josie walked in, careful and unsure. She took a few steps towards the sofa, but she stopped and headed to the stool near the kitchen island.

Penelope closed the door and followed Josie. She carefully put the slipper on the floor and then reached Josie in the kitchen. She poured two cups of coffee and placed one in front of Josie.

She saw Josie fidgeting with her hands and decided to go ahead and help the girl. “You know, I’m usually the one to run out of somebody’s place after spending the night there.”

Josie chuckled. She appreciated Penelope’s efforts to ease her up. “I’m sorry about that. I’ve never done that before” Penelope gave her a pointed stare to which Josie rolled her eyes “Okay, I maybe did it once or twice but that’s not the point”

“What _is_ the point here?” Penelope asked.

Josie took a breath. She had prepared a speech before going out but now, standing in front of Penelope, the words tangled in her mouth. “The point here is that I’m not looking for a relationship, but I also don’t want thing to change between us. I like having you as my friend”

Penelope sported an unreadable expression on her face. “Is that a compliment I heard?”

It was typical of Penelope to circumnavigate the subject. “Just stating fact, do not let it get to your head”

“I’m very touched, Saltzman” she said putting a hand on her heart and wiping a fake tear from her eye.

“Penelope” Josie said her name like a prayer.

“I can do friends Jo-Jo.” She reassured her. “What happened was one night of fun between two consensual adults who are too stressed because they are trying to organize a wedding between two other people who want bond themselves to each other so they can _bone_ each other forever…”

“Thank you” Josie recognized Penelope’s effort to ease her mind even through her joke.

Penelope smiled kindly, a smile that was reserved only to Josie but the other girl couldn’t see it yet. “I won’t promise you that I won’t tease you for falling into bed with me though. I’ll just do it discreetly” Penelope added with a smirk and a wink.

Josie let out an easy smile. All the tension she had gained these days suddenly left her body. “I can take it”

Penelope let out a devilish smile. “Oh, I _know_ you can”

She wiggled her brows suggestively and Josie felt her cheeks turn red.

She had already started. 

* * *

“So our biggest problem is Landon” a voice from the living room explained.

Penelope walked closer to the source of noise, only to find a blonde, a brunette and a redhead talking. It sounded like a joke but it wasn’t.

She saw Lizzie roll her eyes and crossing her arms, meaning she was getting impatience with whatever was going down in that room.

“Landon’s always been the biggest pain the ass”

Hope elbowed her but Lizzie just huffed and sat down. The more Penelope walked into the room the more she had a clear sight of all the things happening. Josie was standing next to a whiteboard, Hope was holding what seemed to be cards of some sort and Lizzie was just being Lizzie. Annoying, if someone asked Penelope.

“He’s my friend Liz” Hope told her fiancé.

“He’s also your _ex”_ Lizzie countered.

“I thought we were over that” Hope said. It almost sounded like a question.

Josie sent Penelope a look. She had been dealing with this shit alone for too long.

“We are. I just think he’ll ruin the aesthetic of the wedding with his mop head”

“Well, we can’t disagree with that”

Penelope made her presence known with that. Lizzie and Hope turned their head towards her and watched her as she threw herself on the couch, next to Hope.

Lizzie uncrossed her arms but only to point a finger at her. “ _You_ are the other pain in my ass at the moment, so you’d better shut up”

“Hey, you have to be thankful there is going to be my face to save the aesthetic of your wedding”

“I wasn’t talking about aesthetic” Lizzie told her.

Penelope waved her hand in the air, now uninterested. “Then I don’t care”

Josie was watching the exchange of banter silently. They main reason they were all gathered there was the arrangements for the siting position. They were going crazy trying to find the best combo possible between all the invited guest.

“You _will_ care the moment I put you with Ashley _and_ Bethany” Hope threatened her.

Penelope widened her eyes and sat up from her slouched position on the couch. Josie chuckled, Penelope looked like someone had slapped her.

“You can’t be serious”

“Try me” Hope dared her.

Penelope huffed. She had lost the battle. “what do you want me to do?”

“Collaborate” Lizzie demanded. “You help us find a siting scheme so that all your _conquest_ can be sited separately and act civil. We don’t want what happened at Hope’s last birthday party to happen again” Lizzie gave her a pointed stare.

Josie shivered, she didn’t want to remember what had happened. It involved a lot of hair pulling and screaming. All because two of Hope’s colleagues found out they had slept with Penelope and they both, incorrectly, thought they won her heart.

“Why did you say conquest with so much disdain?”

Lizzie scoffed. “Because anything that sleeps with you loses all dignity”

Josie felt terrible. Lizzie could be really mean when she wanted, and she didn’t know but she had insulted her own sister and Penelope at the same time. She put aside the fact that Lizzie’s consideration of Penelope hadn’t grown up a lot since she knew the girl and hoped the joke she had just told was some sort of level of comedy she had reached with Penelope.

Fortunately Hope took action and stopped them before a fight could burst out. The girl had more experience dealing with both of them.

“Okay, enough. Lizzie retract the claws, Penelope stop antagonizing Lizzie”

Penelope had to audacity to pout like a four-year-old. “She started it”

Hope responded without missing a beat. “And I’m ending it”

Josie raised her brows, actually impressed. She guessed Hope was going to be the strict mom between her and Lizzie.

“Fine” Penelope and Lizzie said at the same time.

“Okay, so” Hope got up and walked towards the board, where Josie was standing. Scribbled on it there were some name and a few round circles that represented the tables from the wedding. “Lizzie and I will be sitting her” Hope pointed to the circle at the center of the board. She then moved her finger and pointed it at another table. “Your mom and dad will be sitting here alongside my aunt Freya and Keelin and the others obviously. Now you” she said with a strict tone referring to Penelope “and you” she turned to Josie with a sweeter tone “will sit here. We have four other people to sit there so let’s start. Who do we have?”

Josie held up a few a paper “Kaleb, MG, Beth, Jade” she stopped there. “Jade is going to be at the wedding?” Lizzie had the decency to look guilty and so did Hope. She was over Jade, of course, but knowing her ex was going to be at her sister’s wedding would have been nice. That’s what she got for getting with one of her sister’s friend, something that she didn’t want to repeat, she thought looking at Penelope. “When were you going to tell me?”

“It must’ve slipped my mind” Lizzie said casually, checking her nails.

Josie fixed her with a hard stare. She was going to take a little revenge for that. She resumed her task and started reading the names again “Jade, Alyssa, Landon”

“Oh, we could put Landon there!”

“Oh my god, no” Penelope exclaimed from the couch “I will not sit beside Ralf the elf and hear him complain about his life”

“Seems like you two have something in common” Hope said to Lizzie.

“I get where my hate for Landon come from, but yours?”

“Yeah, where does yours come from?” Hope added to the question already asked by Lizzie.

Penelope suddenly saw three pairs of eyes look at her, Josie could have sworn she saw a hint of red surfacing on her cheek.

“Well that’s for me to know and for you to never find out.” She gave them all a checky little smile.

Hope narrowed her eyes, but she threw away the card where Landon was written and picked another one. “Mh, I’ll get it out of you eventually”

“You can sure try, baby” Penelope winked at Hope.

“Ugh, let’s move on please” Lizzie took another pile of cards and went through them. “Okay, since Hope and I have a date with an expensive bottle of red wine I want to cut this thing short, so I say we put Kaleb there along with Mg. We will leave out Jade for my sister’s sake” she gave Josie a smile that hoped to solve the situation “and Landon because Hope seems to still like you” she turned to Penelope “aaaand” she shuffled the card a bit “we add to the mix Jed and Raf. Boom. Done. I’m out” she said doing a ‘mic drop’ gesture.

Hope cleared her throat. “We still have like ten tables to set”

Lizzie waved her hand in the air “Don’t see don’t care”

* * *

Hope knew something was up. She just knew it, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. With the wedding coming up everyone’s mood was altered. Lizzie had been on the verge of a hysterical crisis because of the wedding. Josie was a bouncing ball going from one thing to another and Penelope…. Penelope was plain weird.

She hadn’t heard one single tale of conquest from her best friend in like, two weeks and she could swear that Penelope had been avoiding her.

Even Lizzie, who was the first to enjoy the absence of Penelope, was suspicious.

In the mist of it all, Josie was quiet as ever. Hope had jotted down the behavior as a weird one. Josie was usually shy, reserved even, but never this quiet, especially around Penelope. The two of them had this weird relationship, poking each other and getting on each other’s nerve – although that was mostly Penelope – only to never go anywhere.

Now that Hope thought about it she hadn’t seen the two of them together in a while and if that was normal before, now it was odd.

The truce they had agreed upon was starting to look like a ceasefire. And Hope didn’t know if that was something good.

Lucky for her she lived with Lizzie so one way or another Josie was always gravitating around the house. Josie made her way into the kitchen, smiling at Hope, still unaware of her intention.

Hope smiled in return. She liked Josie, the girl has always been welcoming towards her, Josie was the first person who got to know about her and Lizzie’s relationship – the second one being Penelope – and she was nothing but happy for them.

“Hello Josette” Hope greeted her, leaning on the counter.

Josie shook her head, but a fond smile appeared on her face. “How many times have I told you not to call me that?” she asked instead.

“Too many” Hope raised her brows mischievously. “I am soon to be family though, am I not allowed to call you that?”

Josie didn’t answer at the provocation, she knew Hope was joking “You’re already part of the family but no, unless you want to burn, of course”

“That would be unfortunate since we both have a wedding to attend”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll wait to turn into a human torch”

“Oh, my, thank you, _Josette,_ you’re so kind” Hope said with a smirk.

Josie laughed. “Where’s my sister by the way? We had to meet fifteen minutes ago”

Hope made her way towards the coffee machine and fetched two cups from the cupboard “she’s getting ready, don’t worry”

Josie sat down on the stool and scrolled through her phone while she waited for the coffee “Is that why you’re making me coffee? To apologize for making Lizzie late?”

Hope chuckled but placed a cup of coffee in front of Josie “No. I mean not only for that” she added after Josie’s pointed stare “I wanted to ask you how is Penelope doing”

Josie felt cold sweat drop down her neck “Why? I mean why would you ask me?”

Hope gave her a weird look “Because you’re seeing her more than anyone else lately. I barely see her anymore”

“Oh, _that’s_ why”

“Yeah, so how is she?”

Josie swallowed a big gulp of coffee. Hope was getting wary, Josie could see it by the way she squinted her eyes at her and at the way her lips turned into a thin line.

“She’s good” she managed to squeak out.

“Only good?”

“Yup,” Josie nodded. She tried to compose herself and gave Hope a more elaborate answer “We don’t talk a lot you know, we just tolerate each other for yours and Lizzie’s sake so…”

Hope nodded. She could swear Josie was hiding something, the girl was sweating nervously and fidgeting with her hands. She was biting her lower lips so hard Hope was afraid blood was going to burst out of it. Something was not right, so she tried a different approach.

“Is she seeing someone new?”

“Why? Has she told you something?” Josie inquires.

Hope can see a new light flash over Josie’s eyes. It was something dark, a look that Josie only had when something that was hers was being touched. Lizzie always told her it was a look that Josie had reserved just for her, back when it was only the two of them against the world. Every time someone made fun of Lizzie, Josie would get that look on her face and act, sometime in the most subtle way.

“You sound nervous, are you nervous?” Hope asked.

Josie was getting more and more restless. “I’m perfectly fine”

“Mhh, are _you_ seeing someone new?” Hope asked Josie

“No, why, has she told you something?”

“Was she supposed to tell me something?”

“No” Josie said, prolonging the ‘o’ and then zipping her lips.

Hope raised her brows but kept going with the game of question. “Josie?”

“Hope”

They held stare. To Josie it felt like an eternity, but it was just for a few second, Hope looking for answer she already knew and Josie trying to hide them. At the end, Josie crumbled.

“It was one time, Hope”

Josie put her head in her hands. Hope sat down beside her and put her hand on her back. She always knew about Penelope secret little crush on Josie and she knew she acted like a mischievous little boy around Josie for that. 

“Well, you got your stress out of your system. Penelope’s good a that”

Josie’s head snapped up, the same look Hope had previously saw, now returning.

“You slept with Penelope?”

Hope made a disgusted face. “God, no. Gross” she shook her head, probably to get the image out of her head “The girls at university weren’t exactly quiet.”

She wiggled her brows for good measure and Josie blushed. “I don’t think it’s only that Hope” 

“What do you mean?”

Josie shook her head again and took a pillow from the couch. She hugged it tight and laid her head on it, not looking at Hope. “God, I’m such an idiot. At first I couldn’t stand her, you know?” Hope nodded knowingly “She was so irritating, and she pushed all my wrong buttons but then…” Josie sighed.

“but then something changed?” Hope tried to help her.

“No, I don’t know” Josie raised her head as if trying to explain some concept but then let them fall at her side “She’s still irritating sometimes but…she pushes all my _right_ buttons now and she’s so caring and thoughtful. I’m getting to know sides of her I didn’t know and sides of myself I didn’t know and I…I don’t know what to do”

“Well, talking is always an option”

“I _am_ talking”

Hope gave Josie a look as if to say, ‘are you kidding me?’. “I meant talking to her, dummy”

“No way” Josie got up from the couch as if burned. “No way I’m going to talk to Penelope about that after we just agreed to be just friend”

“You already talked to Penelope?”

“Yeah” Hope looked taken aback, almost hurt and Josie rushed to say something “I asked her to not tell you anything”

Hope waved her hand in the air and recomposed herself “It’s fine Jo, it’s just weird”

“Why?”

“The first thing Penelope does after sleeping with someone is telling me. Like, in details” Hope put her hands in front of her in a blocking motion and widened her eyes. “So, it’s weird that that didn’t happen with you”

“Maybe she just didn’t want to tell you” Josie shrugged, convincing herself it was just Penelope being Penelope and it wasn’t important.

But Hope shook her head. “It means she cares Josie” Josie tried to counter but Hope stopped her

“Listen Jo, I know Penelope and I also know she had a crush on you since you dumped your drink on her at Kaleb’s party” Josie’s mouth fell open “Yeah, I don’t why she never acted on it, she never told me but whatever feelings you’re having now, you might want to talk to Penelope about. I think you could find some resonance”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it. 
> 
> If you want to chat, hit me up at: grounders-pounder.tumblr.com
> 
> See ya!


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